Hyderabad: It was a narrow escape for one-year-old Salman from being sold off to a childless couple for a paltry sum of Rs 20,000.

The toddler, who was sleeping between his mother and grandmother on the pavement, was kidnapped at around 10.30 pm on Monday, but swift action by the Sultan Bazaar police, aided by information provided by other people who were also sleeping in the same premises, saw Salman being rescued before he was sold off by his kidnapper.

The Chaderghat police team led by M Chetana, ACP, Sultan Bazaar arrested two persons in connection with the incident on Wednesday. The arrested persons were B Suresh (30), an auto-trolley driver from Malakpet Gunj, who knew Salman’s mother Mounika, and Suresh’s neighbour M Raj Kumar (37), a cook.

Police said Raj Kumar and his wife, though married for four years, were childless. Raj Kumar, who regularly used to chat with Suresh, requested him to arrange a baby for him from a poor family. He offered Suresh Rs 20,000 for the same.

Suresh, who knew Mounika had a toddler son, then reached the pavement where she used to sleep and kidnapped the child at around 10.30 pm. Mounika woke up half an hour later to find her son missing. Though she and her mother searched for him, they could not find him. It was then that Reena, who also slept on the same pavement, informed them that she had seen Suresh leaving the spot with the child.

Mounika immediately approached the police, who identified Suresh with the help of CCTV visuals and traced the baby within a few hours. While both Suresh and Raj Kumar were arrested, Salman was handed over to his mother the same night.